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BLACK and BLUE in the Garden
 Helleborus 'Slate' Wandering the garden is still the best way to view plants. But since the dog days of July and August hit us here in South Carolina in May and June, I’m appreciating the views from my windows a whole lot more than garden strolls. Dark colors alone from a distance just don’t have punch without a light color to bounce off. I’ve discovered that a garden in black needs to be jazzed with white, yellow, or pink.
There are some new hellebores this fall that fill that dark desire (find them at Wayside Gardens); one called ‘Slate’ is going to have to come live in my shade garden. It’s in the Winter Jewels™ collection. The photo shows its allure. A frilly yellow center pulls your attention to the more subtle appeal of the flat petals; dark charcoal with red veins. Add black buds and you have a plant with colors almost unheard of in gardens past. Slate will fill in nicely next to my dreamy white hellebore.
I’m thinking Royal Purple smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria Royal Purple) would be stunning in the sun planted with AAS winner lavatera Twins White (Lavatera trimestris Twins White). The pure white blossoms on this short tree mallow would boost the purple of the smoke bush.
Here’s a new offering from Park that looks promising as a front of the border purple: Stokes Aster 'Purple Pixie' PPAF (Stokesia laevis 'Purple Pixie'). It is an aster that blooms in springtime, with the roses, and then again in the fall with the other asters and mums. How about planting it alongside blue-eyed grass ‘E. K. Balls’ (Sisyrinchium 'E. K. Balls'), which blooms in mid-spring to summer. Put them both in front of and partly underneath a hedge of white Simplicity roses.
See what combinations you can come up with. Gardens can be a series of combinations, easy to do in parts and pieces. Fall is the best time to put in your perennials, shrubs, and trees. They get growing without the stress of heat, humidity, and pushing out leaves and flowers. Roots can grow uninhibited getting the plant ready to burst come spring.
---Posted by Anne K Moore, June 30 2008--- |
